A gift for Partner

Today is Father's day around here. 

And, somehow, I remembered! (I have a foggy brain lately, but this I managed to not forget. Maybe I should thank my planner!)

It's scary, though, because I am not a good gifter. Sometimes I am just spot on and give the best gift in the world, and others... others it would have been better to just pretend I'd forgotten. It's that bad.

But as I had two bad gifting days this year (already!) towards Partner, I wanted to put a big effort in today's. It took lots of thinking, but I think that I found something that he'll like.

So, what have I prepared?

First, skipping his diet. I know it doesn't sound like a nice thing to do, but he needs some diet-free days (as everybody does), and what better that using them to celebrate something? Also, this way I can bake something for him (rainbow muffins!) and cook some of his favorite foods (homemade pizza!) before I forget how to do it. And I also promised a microwave mug-cake to him for breakfast. So there's my reason.

And then, this...:

Cthulhu f'thagn!

Look what it says!

(At first I was going to use this pattern from Cthulhu Crochet... but then I started changing it so much that I ended up not following it at all. But hey, I'm giving credit where credit is due, and it sparked my crafting, so there!)

...and this matching card, that Oath and I did together:

Oath played along with my crafty intentions until I pressed his hand onto the paper...

...so I had to do the rest alone.

Ain't he a cute little fella?

The explanation? Partner likes Lovecraft, and Cthulhu is (in my opinion) quite a charming fellow. I've been crocheting Tiny Cthulhus for friends, and he asked for one some time ago... but I decided to go one step further and make a special (and not so tiny!) one for him.

I specially like the arcane symbol in place of the heart (on the amigurumi) and of the "A" in the word Father (on the card). That makes up for the words being completely off-center on both places.

Fingers crossed he'll like it too!

Oath's mom

Snap! went the hook

Last Wednesday was a strange day, both good (very good!) and bad (ugh-worthy bad). So many things happened on both categories, that I don't know what to consider the day itself, as a whole. Was it a good day? Uhmm... A bad day? Ehhh... Crochet-wise, though, it was mostly a bad-bad day.

Why?

For some days, I had been working on a handful of granny squares (my first granny squares!) and I was pretty excited about them and, specially, what I was going to do with them. Here, have a look:

I grew rather fond of the curly corners.

Love the color combo, inspired by my daily planner bookmark.

Already in it's place... or not?

Every day before bed there was a bit of crochet, to unwind and relax. It was good. And I had gotten to the point where I could start joining them! The joy, the excitement! So, Wednesday morning, I did. They are meant to be two identical things, each made of 6 single granny squares, so I joined 6 of them into something... that turned out to be too big. Like twice as big as it should. Ugh. It would not work at all. Bad crochet, bad (or, rather, bad sizing skills, OM, bad!)

Even though can't really see it here...

...I could fit both feet in one!

Then we went out to do some errands (although the first, and probably only and last, snow of the season covered a good three inches everywhere. That was the best bit of the day!) and when we got back home I was so tired that I decided the cleaning should wait, and I might as well finish the granny squares and see what could be done to size the slippers down. I hadn't even finished one round when, suddenly, SNAP! My hook broke in half.

Snappity snap!

True, it wasn't a good hook (it was very cheap) but really? Hrrmf. Now I've been forced to continue working on the squares (because damn if I'll give up!) with the smallest part of the hook, because it doesn't want to be glued together again and I do not dare use a bigger hook in my efforts to size them down.

UGH.

This probably means I should invest in better (colorful!) new hooks.

Have you ever had a hook broke on you in the middle of a project?

Oath's mom

"A" is for...

...daily planner!

It doesn't make much sense, does it? I've always called my daily planner (when I had one, that is), my agenda. And, of course, the fact that my name starts with "A" (which is what actually makes sense, isn't it?) also matters. You'll soon see why.

This year I had bought a cheap, boring daily planner. I wasn't using it much, but I found the need to use it grew as the days passed:

 When is Oath's next doctor appointment? I know I called a few days ago to check but now I can't remember...

 Oh, so you told me you wouldn't me coming for dinner today? I must have forgotten...

 If I just had a planner! Wait... I do, don't I?

These (or a variation of them) happened once too much and I decided I needed to start using the cheap, boring, not-so-pretty daily planner. What could I do to make me want to use it more?

Crochet!

Does the "A" make sense now?

I loved this color combination, even though I thought I wouldn't.

Two bookmarks.

Now, the execution isn't perfect, nothing near the perfect idea I had. The rainbow seven-strand braid I wanted to do as a bookmark was too chunky and I had to make two bookmarks, a regular and a four-strand braid... and now I don't know what to use one of them for (woe is me!). I didn't sew it all that well and it does not lay as nicely as it could...

But I love it.

I smile every time I look at it, and it's not only because rainbow-y colors make me happy. It is because for the first time in a (way too) long time, I've done something for me. I have believed that the effort to make me happy (even with something so simple as turning a boring "agenda" into a pretty one) was worth it.

Now if I could only find what to use the second marker for...

Oath's mom

The rainbow basket

After writing my post about the treasure basket, I headed out to buy some yarn. Multicolored, rainbowy yarn. I went for some cheap acrylic, as I knew that if I bought nice yarn for a crochet basket I'd end up feeling too guilty, and the basket would never be crocheted. I hadn't much hopes to find enough colors, as my previous experience is that the shop where I was going does not have many shads. But oh, was I proved wrong! The only one I could not find was navy blue, but that precious minty teal made up for it. And the orange... such a vibrant, lovely orange!

I started crocheting as soon as I arrived home, while Oath played with the basket. The first rows went by so fast! The circle was growing, and growing, and I was smiling more and more. It's amazing how colors can change our mood so much, isn't it?

I found out too late, though, that in my excitement I had made a mistake. Or, rather, a couple of them. The yarn band says it is a "sport grossa", what I (in my little experience) would call DK. I was working with a 7mm hook in US dc / UK trebles. And I was crocheting a basket. I am sure some of you can go where this is going, right?

It was floppy. The sides would not stay up at all, and fell in a very blankety fashion. Which would be very nice if it was a blanket, or a pillow, or something drapey. But not a basket. But I wasn't going to go back. It's work is containing all the little toys, not being really stiff, and I can live with falling basket walls. So, it is floppy still. Want to see?

And doing it was so simple! The most difficult thing was the border, and I'm not calling it difficult seriously. I remembered Lucy's (from Attic24) "Spot-on" border (at least, I think that's how she called it...), and tried to replicate it without searching again for the tutorial. It doesn't look quite the same, but I think it's pretty. And it's not going to be seen much, anyway, as I have to roll down the border in order to make the basket stand!

Ah, I love looking at it. It makes me so happy, now that winter feels long already but spring isn't here yet. Don't colors make you happy at this time of year?

Oath's Mom

A handmade gift

Last week my younger (but not youngest!) sister, S, turned 21. I remember very vividly where was I at that age, feeling lost even though I had finally given some direction to my life. Things looked harder than they were, life seemed harsh and rough, and some very important people let me down. It could have been way worse, but it still sucked.

I have the feeling that she is in a similar place now, with her life changing a lot, feeling alone and scared at times, lonely. So, I decided to make something special for her, something warm and bright and cozy: my first crocheted fingerless mitts.

As soon as I saw the yarn I fell in love: KnitCol (shade 64, in blue, navy, aqua & green), 100% merino wool. It was so different to work with than the acrylics I am used to! And, despite the doubts the shopkeeper had, I think it looks wonderful crocheted. Don't you think so too?

I freestyled them, weighing the remaining yarn in the ball to see when I should end one and start the other. I love how that makes them different while still looking part of the same pair.

(about my home-rescueing mission... it failed. I'm back at square one. It's always the same, isn't it? You work, and life undoes all your progress!)

Oath's Mom

Yarn and hooks: first projects

 Everytime I start a new hobby, I give it my all for a while and then, suddenly, forget about it. At first, I feared it would be the same with crochet, but it's started stronger than usual, so I'm not so sure anymore.

I started learning one night on mid-August, when I asked my grandma to teach me. I don't know why, but it was easier than I thought and I was instantly in love. Thinking of all the possibilities made me giddy! All the hats I could do, all the socks and bags... Oh, the hours of fun that awaited me with a hook in one hand and a skein of yarn by my side.

And you know what? It was true. Even if I forget about it now, it has given me hours of fun already, and some useful things to boot, so it's been a win-win. Also, it is relaxing: falling on the couch, exhausted, at the end of the day, taking the project I'm working on and crocheting stitch after stitch... Some may say it's boring, I say it's kind of zen.

These photos are what I've done so far: a frog hat and a pair of leg warmers for Oath, a bag (about 17cm / 6.7 inches from top to bottom) for me for an upcoming LARP (the small black flower you can hardly see works as a button to fasten the flap!) and the tiny Cthulhu you can see at beginning of this post (around 7.5cm / 3 inches tall).

I don't know what to do next... A zebra hat? Another frog one for a friend? Or, even... for me? Can I get away with that?

Oath's Mom

(I used no patterns, except for the Cthulhu, the leaf and the white flower on the bag)

Hooked

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

Because I needed something else to occupy my time on (no, not really), I've started a new hobby: crochet.

It all started on our vacation, when I saw my grandma crocheting some can tabs purses that looked so great I wanted to try. Grandma, in between some laughing at my sudden and voracious interest, taught me, and now I'm hooked (ha! see what I did there? "Hooked"! Bad pun, I know).

I tried to get my hands on some of my great-grand aunt's hooks, but all we found were very thin, for making intricate lace doilies... and I'm not ready for that yet. I took them with me, though: I like to have some family mementos (specially if they are useful, too!), and that great-grand aunt is nearly 103 years old already! I will miss her when she's gone, and it'll be nice to have something tangible to remember her by.

Anyway, back to crochet.

 As soon as we got home and I got our daily routine mostly going (more about our back-from-vacation routine in another post), I went to buy some more hooks and yarn with a big project on my mind: cute hats for Oath. Because I have no baby winter hats, and I am afraid that when I get the hand-me-downs from Oath's cousin they will be all baby blue and frilly, lacy and such, and I want no more baby blue, frills or lacy clothing home.

The first one on the list? A frog beanie. I have one eye and most of the beanie already crocheted (though I messed up and it looks a bit weird, but hey! it's my first hat ever, it couldn't be perfect, could it?), I hope to have it finished by this weekend.

Go cute hats, go!

(Wish me luck!)

 Oath's Mom

PD: I should start using my own photos, I know.